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Post by willien on Mar 1, 2024 21:38:17 GMT
The last car I bought, we were a few thousand short of the cash price, but had investments maturing within a month. The salesman suggested I just write a promissory note, and pay the balance when money was available. This would absolutely not happen in the UK. One of the reasons I reallyb wish I had emigrated to NZ.
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Post by andy on Mar 1, 2024 22:06:49 GMT
Bumped into the previous owner of SWMBO's car today and he said he didn't enjoy changing headlight bulbs on it either. Says he gave up trying to replace a rear bulb and left it for the mechanic to do in the next service though.
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Post by zx9 on Mar 4, 2024 11:54:00 GMT
About 25 years ago I spent a few months on a contract as a programmer in the IT department of one of the UK's largest vehicle leasing companies, and soon learned that many private customers' interest in the cost of the car only extended as far as the size of the monthly payments (much like when I was selling TVs and washing machines on credit 20 years earlier). This perhaps explains the rise in car prices since many private buyers do not pay this directly.
For private customers the monthly figure was calculated from the undiscounted price, the manufacturer's franchised dealers standard hourly labour rates for servicing, and the high interest rate applied on the 'loan' that financed the vehicle purchase. The leasing company purchased the cars at greatly discounted prices, and paid a greatly reduced hourly rate for servicing because of the volume of business they sent to the franchised dealers. The obsession with having a new cars every 3 or 4 years made all this possible, and the leasing company did not 'pass on' to customers the volume discounts negotiated with manufacturers.
I notice that recently there have been revelations about other finance arrangements that allow private buyers to have new cars, and the way in which only looking at the monthly figure allowed some of these to make a lot of money for everybody involved in the transaction. I have never understood borrowing money, and paying interest, on an asset that depreciates so much in the first 2 or 3 years of its life, but to many people the ownership of a new car is the only consideration.
All the above relates to private buyers. Fleet contracts for commercial customers running a number of high mileage vehicles have different considerations because of tax and cashflow. Only time I had a new car was when I first became eligble for a company car and my the employer had not yet bought into the concept of cash equivalent. I have never ever taken up a kind offer of "finance" and always enjoy the look of torment on the salesman's face when I say "cash". Just after the second or third lockdown, I can't remember it all sort of blurred together, we waited for over a hour in one of those huge used car lots because we had not made an appointment. Eventually when they deemed to talk to us the first question was how much do you want to pay, my answer of about £18k was met by a derisory 'no how much per month could I afford?' Long story short we went on to play with several cars, just to waste their time asked all the questions, pressed all the buttons,the full works then asked how much discount for cash just for a laugh. We did not buy a car from them. |
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Post by JohnY on Mar 4, 2024 15:15:13 GMT
I've never bought a car on credit. The only large items that I have bought on credit have been houses on a mortgage. In both cases the value of the asset increased more rapidly than the cost of interest. I do buy small items with a credit card but pay the debt off completely each month thus avoiding interest. Certainly when I was younger I did without many things that I wanted but could not afford without credit.
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Post by MJB on Mar 4, 2024 18:26:19 GMT
I've never bought a car on credit. The only large items that I have bought on credit have been houses on a mortgage. In both cases the value of the asset increased more rapidly than the cost of interest. I do buy small items with a credit card but pay the debt off completely each month thus avoiding interest. Certainly when I was younger I did without many things that I wanted but could not afford without credit. One of the cornerstones of Sharia law. Just saying. |
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Post by willien on Mar 4, 2024 21:14:19 GMT
I've never bought a car on credit. The only large items that I have bought on credit have been houses on a mortgage. In both cases the value of the asset increased more rapidly than the cost of interest. I do buy small items with a credit card but pay the debt off completely each month thus avoiding interest. Certainly when I was younger I did without many things that I wanted but could not afford without credit. One of the cornerstones of Sharia law. Just saying. HBOS came up with a Sharia compliant mortgage - capitalism will always find away. |
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Post by JohnY on Mar 4, 2024 22:37:45 GMT
I detest Sharia but it isn't all bad.
I am not claiming to be as good gold for avoiding credit. It was self interest. I have saved many thousands of pounds interest in close to a lifetime. I spend quite greedily and sometimes foolishly with money that I have. I don't spend money that I don't have.
Wasn't there a Dickens character who commented on the difference between a penny of expenditure greater than income compared to a penny of income greater than expenditure. I forget the details and am not into literature. But the message was sound.
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Post by spinno on Mar 4, 2024 22:47:36 GMT
I detest Sharia but it isn't all bad. I love common law but it does have it's faults, case law I can take or leave, but statute law makes my indifference boil |
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Post by willien on Mar 4, 2024 22:54:20 GMT
I detest Sharia but it isn't all bad. I love common law but it does have it's faults, case law I can take or leave, but statute law makes my indifference boil In many cases I prefer statute law. England an Wales Consumer protection legislation is easy to access on line and easy to understand - yes there is usually a test of reasonableness. Most of it does not apply in scotland as self interested scots lawyers argued it was uneccesary as Scots Law already had common law provisions which were more than adequate - maybe there are but try finding your way round them without paying a lawyer. |
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Post by spinno on Mar 4, 2024 23:26:14 GMT
I love common law but it does have it's faults, case law I can take or leave, but statute law makes my indifference boil In many cases I prefer statute law. England an Wales Consumer protection legislation is easy to access on line and easy to understand - yes there is usually a test of reasonableness. Most of it does not apply in scotland as self interested scots lawyers argued it was uneccesary as Scots Law already had common law provisions which were more than adequate - maybe there are but try finding your way round them without paying a lawyer. The last sentence hints at "who guards the guards" |
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Post by willien on Mar 4, 2024 23:41:41 GMT
In many cases I prefer statute law. England an Wales Consumer protection legislation is easy to access on line and easy to understand - yes there is usually a test of reasonableness. Most of it does not apply in scotland as self interested scots lawyers argued it was uneccesary as Scots Law already had common law provisions which were more than adequate - maybe there are but try finding your way round them without paying a lawyer. The last sentence hints at " who guards the money grubbing barstewards" FTFY |
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Post by Chester PB on Mar 6, 2024 22:02:16 GMT
I've never bought a car on credit. The only large items that I have bought on credit have been houses on a mortgage. In both cases the value of the asset increased more rapidly than the cost of interest. I do buy small items with a credit card but pay the debt off completely each month thus avoiding interest. Certainly when I was younger I did without many things that I wanted but could not afford without credit. I needed a bank loan for my first and second car, both second hand. Even at the age of 21 I knew that the interest of any 'finance' arranged by a car dealership would be extortionate compared to a bank's personal loan rates, in the same way that any credit scheme offered by my employer to customers buying a TV or washing machine would be. Every car I have purchased in the last 25 years has been purchased with a debit card - the dealerships loved this because the transaction was approved before I got the keys to the car. The only special arrangement was to advise my bank about the planned purchase lest they assume the card had been stolen. Later, when I worked in the accounts office of a legal firm, I used to suggest this to clients who wanted to use a debit card for a deposit on a house purchase, and some were advised by their bank that if this had not been done the transaction may have been declined pending 'investigation'.
The way that so many things (not just cars) are sold on the basis of an 'affordable monthly payment' has allowed sellers to conveniently help the buyers avoid thinking about the real price. Of course, many would prefer not to do so anyway. |
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Post by andy on Mar 6, 2024 22:18:21 GMT
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Post by willien on Mar 6, 2024 22:23:27 GMT
So you commit to rent a car for a fixed 3 year period for £21,564 - payable monthly. |
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Post by andy on Mar 6, 2024 22:27:07 GMT
So you commit to rent a car for a fixed 3 year period for £21,564 - payable monthly. There's just the slight matter of the deposit, sir.  |
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